[Bradinnes]

Apparently this is a serious problem with the 2000 - 2004 model years. My 2003 Focus wagon's IC was acting up on me this weekend. It actually jammed up once completely while my wife and I were out with my 9mth old son. Not good. It finally turned with a few tries and a prayer under my breath. That was on Saturday. Sunday afternoon after cleaning the inside of the car I discover that it's jammed again. No amount of jiggling or praying would move it. I went on-line to Focus Fanatics and discovered what a huge issue it is. Monday I phoned my local dealership. The parts counter wanted $165.00 for the IC !!! Later, I spoke with the service department and they wanted $373.00 plus taxes. I spoke with a member of the Focus Fanatics board who use to build them for people on the site and ship them for a great deal. he no longer does this but sent me in the right direction. The part number is SW 6285 for a Motorcraft IC. If you look online you can find them for sale, even on Ebay. I purchased one from Amazon.com because they offered expedited shipping. I ordered on Monday and it arrived Tuesday afternoon and it cost me about $103.00 USD. If you're in no real hurry it's even more affordable. The IC kit comes with all the parts you need to build the IC to fit your key. There's a really awesome video on YouTube of the whole process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ6jFEBdO...r_embedded

If your IC is off center and has a crinkle metal finish I would consider swapping it out with the new one which is much more robust. Eventually it will give you troubles.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that I did eventually get the key to turn by tapping the end of the key with a small hammer. If you can't rotate the cylinder you have to drill it out. Not a lot of fun so I hear.